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OLG Expands Restrictions on Lottery Insider Play

"No Play At Work" Initiative Bans Lottery Ticket Sellers' from Playing in
Own Store

TORONTO, Sept. 14 /CNW/ - The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is imposing new restrictions on insider play. Beginning on November 3rd, retailers will be banned from purchasing lottery tickets in their own stores. This new action builds on OLG's previously existing policy which bars OLG employees from playing lotteries.

Under the "No Play At Work" initiative announced today, registered retailers who sell OLG lottery tickets and wish to play a lottery game will be required to purchase and redeem their tickets at another retail location - not at their own stores.

"This new policy ensures that everyone who buys or cashes a lottery ticket does so the same way - from the customer's side of the counter," said Greg McKenzie, OLG's Senior Vice President, Lottery. "It's a simple and transparent way of restricting insider play. It means that if you're a retailer and you want to play the lottery, you'll now have to wait until after work and buy your tickets at someone else's store. Retailers can no longer be both the player and the vendor at the same time."

The "No Play At Work" policy is part of OLG's ongoing efforts to ensure the integrity of its lottery operations as well as the confidence of Ontarians in the province's lottery system. It builds on a series of initiatives taken in response to the Ombudsman's 2007 review of OLG operations, including the corporation's self-initiated analysis of 13 years of lottery transactional data released in February. Please visit OLG.ca and click on "Improving our lottery system" for a complete list of enhancements.

"Convenience store retailers want the lottery system to be absolutely secure and trusted by all Ontarians," said Dave Bryans, President, Ontario Convenience Stores Association. "We're fully supportive of this change by the OLG and want to show everyone in Ontario that convenience stores are responsible lottery retailers who are committed to fair and open lottery play."

OLG is a provincial agency responsible for province-wide lottery games and gaming facilities. Since 1975, OLG lotteries, casinos, slots, and resort casinos have generated more than $28 billion for the benefit of the Province of Ontario. Gaming proceeds support Ontario's hospitals, amateur sport, recreational and cultural activities, communities, provincial priority programs such as health care and education, and local and provincial charities and non-profit organizations through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.